First of all, I think it's dangerous to compare our children with other people's children. While I admire and am in awe of people who raise up kids who never, ever rebel -- I think it's dangerous to assume that just because you homeschool them they will remain faithful and true to all they've been taught.
I am an idealist. When someone told me back when my babies were beginning to be homeschooled that homeschooling was the answer to raising well-adjusted, God-fearing children -- I believed them! I still believe them -- but with a difference.
I do know many families -- most of them in the limelight of homeschooling -- whose kids are poster children for the homeschooling movement. But I also know God-fearing parents whose children did not choose to follow their parents' beliefs when they grew up. At least, not completely. They might still go to church and go through the motions, but deep down, they really don't want to homeschool their own children. They feel that they were far too sheltered, and basically feel a need to rebel and prove they are their own person. Why this is in some families and not others, I don't know.
It's not homeschooling that is the answer to raising obedient children to become obedient teens and adults. It's the grace of God. I think it's important -- very important -- to remember that. Without God's grace, none of us could parent effectively. Not all of us are going to have children who are readily compliant. I think the Lord must have given me five of the most strong-willed children on earth. (Trust me, the apple doesn't fall from the tree!)
The thing that has helped me with my own children who have disappointed me from time to time is to remember that God is a perfect Father, and yet, his children rebelled in the garden. We can be perfect parents (which is impossible!) but our children still have their own will. God doesn't force us to obey, and there is no way to force our own children to obey.
I don't know, quite frankly, how parents who do NOT homeschool manage to turn out great kids who are not rebellious, but the fact is, some of them do! It doesn't seem fair, but the fact of the matter is, it really is up to the child in the end.
There are also so many variables: father involvement, support from extended family, friends, environment and more. No one has the same household as someone else. If someone has managed to raise up their kids to be glowing examples of Christian Character at its best -- they have the grace of God to thank -- not homeschooling alone!
I know God had Adam and Eve's heart -- but this world is so full of temptations that look so enticing. All we can do is pray and hope and continue to homeschool as long as God tells us that's what we are to do! But we must remember: there are no guarantees. If we think there are, we will be sorely hurt and disappointed.
I cannot imagine trying to raise children in this culture without the help of the Lord and the blessing of homeschooling. When I see all the paganism, lasciviousness, hedonism and selfishness in the world, it makes me want to run away to the mountains and hide in a cave! But while God has called us out to be separate, we are also called to go into that world and preach the gospel to every creature! By God's grace, I pray that my children will be able to obey that commandment. It's not enough that I raise kids that are good. My heartbeat is to raise kids that win souls.
My kids will not take a Harvard degree or SAT scores with them to heaven, but they will take souls. Souls are the only thing that we take with us when we die. It is not just for my children's sake that I homeschool: It is for the hope of the world, so that there will not be a generation that does not know God.
Judges 2:10 says:
"And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." (KJV) This is where our America is today. At least in the county where I live it is. Children are brought in to church by church members who don't know anything about Jesus. They don't know anything about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses or Jonah. They know nothing at all about the Word of God! This is in America! We DO have a generation who doesn't know God or know of the great and mighty things He has done!
My earnest prayer is that my children will teach others the Truth. They say you're a successful teacher when your students can teach what they know to someone else. To me, that makes for a successful homeschool, too. But the only way it will be accomplished is by the grace of God!
My earnest prayer is that my children will teach others the Truth. They say you're a successful teacher when your students can teach what they know to someone else. To me, that makes for a successful homeschool, too. But the only way it will be accomplished is by the grace of God!
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